The Trials of Mary Polly Bodine
Here again is a case out of the New York area in the mid 1800's. I gander to guess that these sorts of crimes, that I have been blogging about as of late, were not isolated to this area and were likely occurring all over the country. However, the large newspaper companies were located in this region. California did not join the union until 1848 to which they too had large newspapers but it seems that many cases from the 'middle of the country' likely got lost. This case is a curious one. On the night of December 25, 1843 two boys saw smoke billowing from a house in Staten Island New York and alerted people. It was the home of Captain George Housman. He was out to sea at the time but he lived in the home with his wife Emeline (nee Van Pelt) and their 20 month old daughter, Ann Elizabeth. The home was located across the street from George's parents' home. It was assumed that the home was empty as it was believed that Emeline had gone to visi...